


Betrayal

by Tommykaine



Series: The Touch of Wolfsbane [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Discussion of Abortion, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, M/M, Mentions of Pregnancy, Mentions of Slavery, copying and reposting this work elsewhere without my permission is strictly forbidden!, inspired by a friend's story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23478730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tommykaine/pseuds/Tommykaine
Summary: Kannin, the half-elf alchemist, catches his servant in the act of crafting a dangerous potion. He demands explanations.
Relationships: Original Elf Character(s)/Original Elf Character(s), Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: The Touch of Wolfsbane [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647925
Kudos: 2
Collections: COW-T - the Clash Of the Writing Titans





	Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ForgottenLoveSong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForgottenLoveSong/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Thoughts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18553939) by [ForgottenLoveSong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForgottenLoveSong/pseuds/ForgottenLoveSong). 



Kannin was sleeping soundly in his bed, exhausted by the long day, when suddenly his rest was disturbed by a cacophony of sounds. He struggled to wake up once he recognized the cries of the many creatures he kept caged, warning him of an intruder. Most likely a thief.

"For the Gods' sake", he grumbled, opening his nightstand to pick up a long dagger and a jar filled with a transparent liquid. He shook it vigorously until it started emanating a strong white-blue glow, then held it up like a lantern as he walked out of the room.

He glanced up for a moment, hesitating, resisting the urge to rush upstairs and check on Theadus. He didn't see him come out so most likely he was still sleeping, too tired to wake up. He should be safe in there, the thief was downstairs and Kannin could take care of them before they could reach his servant. In truth, he knew Theadus's magic could be useful against an intruder, but then Kannin thought of the child inside of him and his grip on the dagger tightened. He would not put them at risk. He could take care of it alone.

Like Theadus, he too knew how to move without making noise, and he did so as swiftly as he could before the intruder could notice the approaching light and run off into the night with whatever they came to steal.

Once he finally reached the room where the creatures were screeching and growling and yowling and making all sorts of noises and calls of alarm, he looked around to find the source of that ruckus. He was holding the dagger firmly in his hand and preparing to threaten the thief when he finally saw the figure curled up on itself. For a moment it almost looked like some sort of monster in the glowing blueish light of the jar, but then Kannin recognized the long hair, the tunic, the scent of the younger elf.

"What the hell are you doing?!", he snapped, and finally the figure looked up and he could confirm it was indeed Theadus, his elven servant.

The hand that was holding the dagger relaxed and he placed it on the nearest surface, no longer fearing an unknown threat. Still, his expression remained stern and threatening.

Kannin had many flaws, but gullible wasn't one of them. Now it all made sense, why Theadus had been so insistent and glued to him all day, not giving him a moment to rest between his questions and curiosity and the times he'd approached him for sex whether directly or indirectly. In retrospect, that alone should have made him suspicious. However, sometimes Theadus was oddly aroused and eager for it so he thought that had been the case this time too. Only now did he realize it had all been a way to distract and exhaust him. For what purpose he didn't know, but he knew that he wasn't going to like it.

There was no actual answer at first. Only a garbled up mess of an explanation that left Kannin with more questions than before. What wasn't for him? What was Theadus sorry for? What was it that he could not do?

While the elf calmed his breathing and rubbed the tears away from his eyes, Kannin strode towards the table on which he usually mixed his ingredients. He looked around, trying to figure out what was out of place, what had been touched and used. It didn't take long for him to notice the mixture of herbs inside the stone bowl.

A horrible sneaking suspicion made its way into his thoughts, his fingers picking up some of the powder and bringing it to his nose to sniff it. His whole body stiffened. He knew what that was for. He knew it and as he turned again to look at his servant he wasn't entirely sure of whether he was mostly angry or saddened, either way he was upset and it showed.

His green eyes were fixed on Theadus's mismatched ones and he didn't say anything yet, he just stared at him with a cold glare and waited for him to explain himself even if the last thing he wanted was to listen. A part of him just wanted to strike, to whisper the spell of punishment that he hadn't used since he found out the elf was pregnant. And that was what stopped him in the end, what forced him to quieten his thoughts and listen, hoping that whatever Theadus was about to say wouldn't make things even worse.

The elf couldn't even hold his gaze, his eyes lowering in what was probably shame or guilt. Once he finally spoke, voicing the concern that had haunted the half-elf since he first recognized the scent of the herbal mixture, Kannin couldn't help but feel relieved. For a moment he'd thought that Theadus had been playing him for a fool, acting as if he really would take care of a child that had no clear father. A half-beast, most likely. One of the beings that was considered as an unthinkable heresy among elves, and as a monster by humans and other creatures.

Sure, the cross-mating had been an experiment, but that didn't mean Kannin didn't care about what Theadus was carrying. It was not his, it would never be his since he had always been barren, but he still seethed at the thought of ending that child's life just because it was not a pureblood elf.

But that was not what Theadus made it for. He would not be begging him not to hurt his child otherwise, and that plea made Kannin's stomach churn. Did he really think he would do something so monstrous as to harm an innocent child? As angry as he might have been with its mother, the baby had no guilt, it was completely innocent.

However, he did not dwell on it as even without outright telling him, Theadus had pretty much already told him all he needed to hear to put the pieces together.

It was not for him, but for someone else. And there was only one person that his elf would risk everything for, only one that would be able to convince him to disobey and try to do something as heartless behind his back, knowing full-well he would be greatly punished if he was found out. A selfish, spoiled elf prince who had already tried to kill the child he was carrying, claiming the half-breed demon would kill him from within like some kind of monstrous parasite.

Kannin had already heard such nonsense before, of course. All that it was was fear-mongering, made-up cautionary tales to scare elves into maintaining blood purity, especially those of high lineage. Sure, the prince had been indoctrinated, but Kannin could not excuse his actions nor his determination to take an innocent's life, whose only sin was that of having been born from the wrong seed.

"Were you trying to kill the prince's child?", he asked sternly. "Did he ask you for this?".

He did not really need to hear the answers to know what the truth was. But he wanted him to say it out loud. He wanted to hear it from him.

  
  


Eilith had been sleeping outside with the pack, wrapped up in the furs. He hadn't been asleep for long when he was woken up by the voices and movements around him. The wolf demons had heard something approaching, some of them growling as they shifted in their wolf form.

Eilith struggled to sit up, his hands still tied behind his back. They'd gone numb over the night, making it almost impossible to use them to push himself up.

Once he was finally seated over the furs, he saw a light coming closer, and then two familiar figures approaching. Kannin, the half-elf alchemist, and his childhood friend and bodyguard Theadus.

The other elf barely glanced at him before looking down, his arms clutching around his stomach. Eilith felt a pang of fear, especially when he looked up and saw Kannin's expression.

Before anyone could say or do anything, the half-elf strode towards him and backhanded him hard enough to split his lip, making him yelp in pain and almost fall over from the sheer strength of the impact.

"What is the meaning of this?", Wotan barked out. Eilith knew he didn't care if he got hurt, but he probably didn't like that Kannin had just gone ahead and struck 'his property' without warning or explanation, as if challenging his authority.

As a response, Kannin walked back to Theadus and pulled him by his hair to force him to look up.

"Tell them", he ordered, and Eilith saw it in his eyes, before he even spoke he knew that he had been caught.

 _Or maybe... maybe he'd spilled it out because he hadn't had the guts to go through with it,_ a malicious voice whispered in his the back of his head.

He tried to brush it off, Theadus would not have betrayed him, it was nonsense!

And yet, he had seen the hesitation on his face when he'd taken advantage of one of their few moments alone to beg for his help, to save him from the monster he was being forced to carry within his body. He had promised but had he really ever meant to help him?

That uncertainty was the worst thing. Almost worse than the anger he could see on Wotan's face as he heard about his plotting. Almost worse than the way Taranis avoided looking at him since they'd argued and he'd let it slip that the child would be a monster because it was a half-blood, a heresy.

He curled up on himself, shivering despite the fact that he was still wrapped up in the warm furs. He felt helpless and alone, not even Theadus was going to save him from the beast growing in his belly, and no one else would care if it killed him as it was born.

In a mixture of fear and betrayal, Eilith glared at him even as his eyes filled with tears, blurring up the shapes of the demons approaching him, no doubt ready to punish him for his attempts.

"You were supposed to protect me!", he yelled, his voice broken and full of hurt as his hair was grabbed, his face pushed down on the ground harshly enough to scrape him. "You were supposed to stop this from happening!".

The alchemist scoffed at him, staring down at him in disgust.

"Let's go, Theadus", he said, grabbing on the younger elf's hand, and at that point Eilith's sight was too blurry to make out what sort of expression was on Theadus's face.

A part of him wanted to apologize, to say that he didn't mean it, and yet another darker part of the prince wanted to yell at him more, to tell him it was all his fault, that he wouldn't even be there if he'd done his job.

In that moment, between Theadus and himself he wasn't sure of who he resented more.


End file.
